He introduces himself over the phone as Nathan, my Imerman Angel. Imerman Angels are cancer survivors who provide emotional support for current cancer patients. Suicidally depressed one day, I signed up online to be matched with a mentor, or angel. Nathan starts off by telling me his story. In 2017 surgeons removed a preposterous 10-pound tumor from his abdomen. He has had no less than seven surgeries since. His latest operation was six weeks ago, to amputate a toe that had turned gangrenous. “Jesus,” I say in reaction. Next week he is flying to Denmark to undergo an experimental procedure. He has already been to Mexico and Chile for other novel treatments. All that strikes me as stupid, not because of the expense, but because of its obvious futility. I wish Nathan luck in Denmark. He says goodbye with what sounds like genuine warmth. Suffering the usual stabs of pain, I struggle out of the chair where I had been sitting and listening for a good half-hour. He never did get around to asking me my story. The only angel is the angel of death.

Howie Good is a writer living on Cape Cod. His new poetry book, The Dark, is available from Sacred Parasite, a Berlin-based publisher.